Questions for Reflection: How am I realizing my role as an online instructor? How does this role fit within my comfort level/traditional view of my own teaching identity? Do I need to adjust – if so, how?I think the role of an online instructor is very similar to the role of a traditional classroom teacher. The big difference is that you may never meet the students you are teaching personally as an online instructor. So the big question is how can I close this gap and make my students feel like they know me and I know them. Liu, Bonk, Magjuka , Lee, & Su (n.d.) explain 4 roles that online educators have: pedagogical, social, managerial, and technical roles. (Pedagogical includes the way we teach, social is our interactions: student-student and student-teacher, managerial being our organization and the flow of the course, and technical roles include the use of technology and the barriers it might pose.) In their research they found that social was the lowest and the other 3 categories were rated positively based on student perception. "While approximately 60% of the students never felt lonely while taking the classes, about 25% did, in fact, feel isolated. In addition, 49% responded that they could not feel the emotions of other students in their online courses. Similarly, only 28% of students felt that they knew their instructors and other students well. Although the students felt a low level of social presence in online courses, nearly 90% indicated they felt they were part of a learning community when they took online courses." Based on this data the biggest impact as educators that we can have is to build that social connection into our class. I think this is where the class that I designed lacks if it were to be a truly distance class. My students work online in their own time but I am available for help personally and they use me and each other as needed. So I still have the social connection, but would have to work on this aspect if I were to use this class as a distance class. Looking at the roles of a teacher most students I think the biggest 2 lie in the social and pedagogical categories. We need to plan out our courses so that students are prepared for each task and can by successful while also planning in interaction. According to Craig, Goold, Coldwell, & Mustard (2008) students believe that teachers should provide clear feedback and guidance, challenge student to think. and helping students to learn. "Only 16% thought that teachers should know all the answers." I think this last statement is huge. We want to know everything, but it is not possible. I think sometimes we have to realize the impossibility of knowing everything in order to relinquish ourselves from the idea that teachers need to know everything. I believe that the things I don't know can actually be a strength. It allows students to take the stage and teach us something. We just have to be willing to allow this change in our idea of education to fully play out. Giving students the opportunity to provide a learning experience can help students to build confidence and can help them to excel. Technical difficulties are new area to teachers from traditional classrooms. In a traditional classroom you can help a student through these difficulties, but at a distance this can be hard because we aren't in the same place. Luckily for me I am able to trouble shoot after school with students, and sometimes during the day as my class schedule allows. Technical difficulties can cause learners to become isolated and frustrated. This also begs the question of who is responsible for helping a student through the technical issue? Our job is to teach not provide technical support. However, "many online instructors and trainers still find themselves in a position of being the first point of contact for learners with technical questions or issues. These instructors and trainers must decide how much they are willing and/or able to assist learners with technical support issues while balancing personal preference, technological knowledge level/skill, time constraints, and existing workload" (Shamsy, 2014). I think the biggest thing I would need to consider in a truly distance class is the social aspect and my teacher presence. Right now my students know me but this would not be the case all the time. Vigil (2014) give some great suggestions:
I'm not sure I need to change my identity but more that I need to change to help my students. Things are constantly changing and we have to be ready to adapt. New challenges will always come our way and we just have to be ready to try to tackle these changes. Sources
Craig, A., Goold, A., Coldwell, J., & Mustard, J. (2008). Perceptions of Roles and Responsibilities in Online Learning: A Case Study . Retrieved February 12, 2017, from http://ijklo.org/Volume4/IJELLOv4p205-223Craig510.pdf Everson, M. (2011, February). The Instructor's Role in Online Discussions. Retrieved February 13, 2017, from https://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=1943211 Liu, X., Bonk, C. J., Magjuka, R. J., Lee, S., & Su, B. (n.d.). Exploring Four Dimensions of Online Instructor Roles: A Program Level Case Study . Retrieved February 12, 2017, from https://uasinternship.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/v9n4_liu_1.pdf. Shamsy, J. (2014, May). A Balancing Act Part I: Technical Support and the Online Instructor. Retrieved February 13, 2017, from http://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=2627756 Vigil, V. P. (2014, August 06). Meaningful Learning: Teacher Presence & Learner Engagement in the Online Classroom. Retrieved February 13, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/meaningful-learning-teacher-presence-learner-engagement-online-classroom
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